Traditionally, the houseboats were called Kettuvalom, which means a boat made by tying together pieces of wood. Not a single nail is used in the making of a Kettuvallom.The material used for the making of Kettuvallom is all from the nature-Jack wood planks are joined together with coir ropes and beaten coconut fibres. The wood commonly used to make Kettuvallom is “Anhili”. Bamboo poles, bamboo mats, coir carpets etc is used for the making of Houseboats. These 80 feet long crafts have been adapted into luxuriously furnished houseboats.

The interior of the houseboat is really unbelievable – It’s a House on Water! Each houseboat is beautifully decorated with coir mattress on the floor. Houseboats normally have spacious living/dinning area and sun deck. It is attached with toilets, separate toilets for crew. Spacious passage and neat kitchen. Clean towel and blankets are provided. Three workers are appointed on the houseboat, one cook and other two to drive the houseboat.

The price of the houseboat varies in every season. For cheap houseboats, the facilities will be cheap and for costly houseboats the facilities will be luxurious. There are One bedroom, Double bedroom and Large boats. Short cruise on backwaters are also available on the smaller boat. Houseboats accommodate group on large boats. The duration of these cruises depends on the routing and can be covered in 3 to 6 hours of time period through backwater. Great India houseboats offer the internationally popular backwater cruse between Alleppey, Kumarakom and Kollam.